Optimizing Ion Transport in Polyether-Based Electrolytes for Lithium Batteries
Journal Article
·
· Macromolecules
- Cornell Univ., Ithaca, NY (United States). Dept. of Chemistry and Chemical Biology. Baker Lab.
- Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States). Dept. of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering; Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Materials Science Division
- Purdue Univ., West Lafayette, IN (United States). Charles D. Davidson School of Chemical Engineering
- Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States). Dept. of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
- California Inst. of Technology (CalTech), Pasadena, CA (United States). Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering
- Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States). Dept. of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering; Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Materials Science Division. Energy Storage and Distributed Resources Division
In this paper, we report on the synthesis of poly(diethylene oxide-alt-oxymethylene), P(2EO-MO), via cationic ring-opening polymerization of the cyclic ether monomer, 1,3,6-trioxocane. We use a combined experimental and computational approach to study ion transport in electrolytes comprising mixtures of P(2EO-MO) and lithium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl) imide (LiTFSI) salt. Mixtures of poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) and LiTFSI are used as a baseline. The maximum ionic conductivities, σ, of P(2EO-MO) and PEO electrolytes at 90 °C are 1.1 × 10–3 and 1.5 × 10–3 S/cm, respectively. This difference is attributed to the Tg of P(2EO-MO)/LiTFSI (-12 °C), which is significantly higher than that of PEO/LiTFSI (-44 °C) at the same salt concentration. Self-diffusion coefficients measured using pulsed-field gradient NMR (PFG-NMR) show that both Li+ and TFSI– ions diffuse more rapidly in PEO than in P(2EO-MO). However, the NMR-based cation transference number in P(2EO-MO) (0.36) is approximately twice that in PEO (0.19). The transference number measured by the steady-state current technique, t+,ss, in P(2EO-MO) (0.20) is higher than in PEO (0.08) by a similar factor. We find that the product σt+,ss is greater in P(2-EO-MO) electrolytes; thus, P(2EO-MO) is expected to sustain higher steady-state currents under dc polarization, making it a more efficacious electrolyte for battery applications. Molecular-level insight into the factors that govern ion transport in our electrolytes was obtained using MD simulations. These simulations show that the solvation structures around Li+ are similar in both polymers. The same is true for TFSI–. However, the density of Li+ solvation sites in P(2EO-MO) is double that in PEO. Finally, we posit that this is responsible for the observed differences in the experimentally determined transport properties of P(2EO-MO) and PEO electrolytes.
- Research Organization:
- Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- National Science Foundation (NSF) (United States); USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES) (SC-22)
- Grant/Contract Number:
- AC02-05CH11231
- OSTI ID:
- 1461983
- Journal Information:
- Macromolecules, Journal Name: Macromolecules Journal Issue: 8 Vol. 51; ISSN 0024-9297
- Publisher:
- American Chemical SocietyCopyright Statement
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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